Quirks in our Language

[twitchy]

Mainly I wanna know

why is it a "pair of scissors, pants or pliers" when in fact there is only one of them? Is there some reason for it at all?

[RoNiN240sx]

or a pair of glasses. maybe it's cause scissors have two blades, pants have two legs, and glasses have two lenses, i dunno.

[Bliss]

what, then, about a pair of underwear? two leg holes?

I'm guessing that sometime way back a "pair" just meant one, or something of that nature. But, this is English and we've have rules only to break them, so this isn't much use. LOL

[hookedup240]

english is the hardest language to learn....i guess these are a few of the reasons why.

[masta]

The word "pair" has more than one meaning:

You guys are only thinking of the meaning where it means a set of two people or things used together or regarded as a single unit.

It also has somewhat the opposite meaning where it means a unit consisting of two joined or corresponding parts.

[twitchy]

Originally posted by masta
The word "pair" has more than one meaning:

You guys are only thinking of the meaning where it means a set of two people or things used together or regarded as a single unit.

It also has somewhat the opposite meaning where it means a unit consisting of two joined or corresponding parts.

thank you!